


She Tries to Cover Every Bruise

by Unpaid_Devushka



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Flashbacks, Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2020-09-06 08:36:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20288569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unpaid_Devushka/pseuds/Unpaid_Devushka
Summary: When a previously inactive 084 activates with Skye in the lab, she is the one caught in the crossfire. Now in her twelve year old body, the team scramble to get her back into her older body, and her young one heals. Coulson is busy as Director, Fitzsimmons always in the lab trying to figure out what happened. The only person Skye can turn to is May.





	1. Chapter 1

“This is incredible. I mean, look at the power core. It seems to be empty.” Skye drowned out Fitz and Simmons babbling as she walked into the lab quietly and sat down in the corner she has claimed as her own. She smiled at Fitz before opening her laptop and tapping away, loosing track of time in the codes she was working on. She is snapped out of her coding when a whirring noise fills the room, automatically looking up and noticing that an hour had passed, and that she was alone in the lab. She shut her computer slowly, standing up as she noticed where the noise was coming from. The other 084 in the room, which she would have to pass to get to the door. She saw the red button near her that would alert the rest of the team to her predicament, and had just pressed it, the alarm blaring as a bright blue light filled the room, blinding her. The next thing she knew she was sitting on the floor, her laptop on the floor near her. She scrambled over to it, picking it up, and sighed in relief when it was fine. The alarm was still blaring, and she quickly shut it off, before locking the lab. She knew the protocol, and as much as she wanted to lay down and sleep, she couldn’t. Only after she sat down did she realise why something felt off. Everything seemed to be bigger. Well, not bigger, but taller. Her clothes seemed too long and baggy. And she was sore. Not just from falling on her butt, but her whole body seemed to be aching. Hearing multiple footsteps, she stood and turned to face presumably the team as they rushed towards the lab, when she caught her reflection in the glass. Staring back at her was a twelve year old child. No, it was her. She recognised her face, well, the parts of her face that wasn’t bruised. Now that she had seen herself, the ache now became a stabbing pain radiating from multiple points on her body. She quickly at down, leaning against the table as the pain in her ankle grew, and she cradled her most likely broken arm close to her body. She studied her face in the glass’s refection, taking in her black eyes and the recently scabbed cut running across the left of her forehead. She breathed deeply and winced, she definitely had a bruised rib at least. Probably fractured. She was snapped from her thoughts as May ran into view, followed by Coulson and the rest of the team, who all froze in place upon spotting the beaten young girl. Skye stood with some difficulty, trying to hide her pain, and limped to the door, which snapped them out of their stupor.

“Hey guys.” Skye says sheepishly through the intercom, wincing as pressing the button agitates her fractured wrist, her broken arm hanging limply at her side. A cacophony of voices is heard though the doors, yelling about first who she was, then what happened and how it was possible. The voices yell over each other, until she interrupts them.

“Guys, guys, stop yelling. AC! Seriously, oh my god. I’m the one whose stuck in my twelve year old body, yet here you are acting like twelve year old’s. Not you of course.” Skye directs the last comment to May, who had been silent the whole time.

“Now, I know protocol, but whatever the 084 is seems to have turned off, so maybe Simmons could take a look at my arm? It’s broken.” Skye states, and May looks at her with what she can presume sadness.

“How did this happen though! Did the 084 throw you?” Fitz questions, and Skye watches May as she answers, keeping her voice void of emotion. May seemed to be the only one who had figured out what was going on.

“No. It seems as though my body has been changed to exactly as it was on this day when I was twelve.” She answers, and Simmons gasps when she realises what she means, tears filling her eyes.

“Sir, please, I’ll have to set her arm.” Simmons turns to Coulson, who, after glancing at May, nods. Simmons dashes forward, and Skye undoes the lockdown, letting Simmons in. Simmons rushes towards Skye, who flinches away, heart racing, causing Simmons to stop in her tracks.

“Sorry. Habit.” Skye mumbles, breathing out shakily. Simmons nods, looking down sadly at Skye.

“Come on then, sit down here and put your arm on the table. Fitz! Can you get the portable X-Ray?” She calls back to Fitz, who quickly disappears into the store room. Skye is about to walk when May is beside her, causing her to flinch back.

“Sorry. Can I help you walk? I know you don’t want it, but I don’t want you to make your ankle worse.” May speaks softly, looking down at Skye with her usual blank expression, but Skye can see the worry in her eyes.

“Thanks, but no. I have two fractured ribs, one broken, a fractured wrist, the other arm broken and a badly sprained ankle. Can you just… Bring the chair here? It has wheels, then I can move myself over.” Skye replies, not missing the way May’s eyes widen at the information. May quickly wheels the chair over, allowing Skye to sit down before pushing her over to Simmons.

“Want to tell her what you just told me?” May asks, but it clearly wasn’t a choice from her tone.

“Tell me what?” Simmons asks, glancing down at Skye. Skye takes a slow, shallow breath before answering.

“That I have one broken rib, two fractured ribs, my left arm is broken in two places, my right wrist is fractured, and my ankle is badly sprained.” Skye repeated.

“How do you know?” Simmons asks curiously.

“Because I was there in the hospital when they told me. I was in a wheelchair for two weeks, then crutches for another one.” Skye sighs, looking away from Simmons. Skye doesn’t speak again, not when they do multiple x-rays, not when her blood is drawn, not when Simmons applies casts and bandages, and not when she is restricted to bed rest. When Simmons asks how the injuries happened, Skye just looks up at her with eyes that seem too big for her shallow face.

“I was in the system. If you believe that all people and families are good, that they take in orphans from the goodness of their heart, you’re naive.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye has a nightmare, and needs new clothes.

_“Mary! Get back here you stupid bitch!” _

_The stairs were big. It slowed her down. She was lying on the ground. Dizzy. Head hurt._

_“Is this what you call dinner? It’s not hot.” _

_Her side hurt. His foot connected again. Blood covered her eye. Bit her lip. Don’t scream._

_“Stupid girl.” _

_Moving. Hair ripping from scalp. Falling. Scream._

_“What did I tell you about being quiet!?” _

_Don’t move arm. Don’t breathe deep. Everything hurts._

_“You’re twelve. You are old enough to do what I say.”_

_Wrist in tight grip. Pulled up. Ankle hurts. Can’t stand. Fall._

_Pain. Hurt. Scream._

She gasps as she bolts upright, sweating. Clutching her side, she glances around herself, quickly turning on the lamp.

“You’re okay. You’re on the Bus. You’re not there.” She whispers, repeating the phrase as she catches her breath and blinks the tears from her eyes. Slowly, she got up, keeping weight off her left foot, and moved to pull out her clothes from under her bed, as she knew she wouldn’t get back to sleep. She stopped when she remembered that all of the clothes would be too big for her, pulling them out anyway. She grabs a navy flannel, and when she puts it on it reaches down to her knees. She grabs her black scarf, and after twisting it as thin as she could, ties it around her waist like a belt, careful to avoid the bandages around her ribs. She struggles for a moment with the long sleeves, but with two casts on she can’t get them to roll up so she leaves them, the bulky casts hidden by the fabric.

Deciding that would have to do, she padded outside barefoot, limping slightly. Her ankle didn’t hurt that bad now that she was moving, and now that she thinks back to it, she can remember playing on her injuries. Being in the wheelchair meant she couldn’t do any of the tasks the nuns would have made her do, and that also meant a nun had to be with her all the time. That way none of the bigger kids at the orphanage could hurt her. It also meant she couldn’t get up stairs, so they had to turn a storage closet into a room for her. It was the first time she’d gotten her own room.

She slowly made her way to the kitchen, where the light was already on. Pausing in the doorway, she sees May making herself a cup of tea. She stands there for a moment, unsure, before May pulls down a second mug, pouring it and taking the two mugs to the couch, pacing them down on the small table there. She sits down, taking a sip from one, the second sitting there. Slowly, Skye shuffles forward and automatically sitting down at the edge of the couch, where she could see both entrances. May slides the tea over to her, but Skye just stares at it for a moment, before turning to May.

“I, uhh, can you roll up my sleeves?” She asks, cheeks flaming. Without saying a word May places down her tea and turns to face her. Skye moves her arms forward, and May rolls the sleeves up for her, before turning back to her tea. Skye smiles when she notices that her mug is only half filled, so she wouldn’t spill anything. After sitting in silence for a few moments, she speaks again.

“So, all my clothes are too big. And I hate dresses.” She mutters the last part, looking down at her bare legs. May followed her sight to her legs, which were covered in bruises. Hand prints. Noticing May’s staring, she played with the edges of the shirt, trying to pull it down further.

“Skye.” Skye looks up, and noticing May’s expression she quickly shakes her head.

“No, I don’t want to talk about it. It was years ago and I'm over it. I just want some clothes that fit me for however long I am like this.” Skye took another slow sip of her tea, and May nodded.

“Okay, we can go-”

“May, I can’t go. Look at me.” Skye sighs. May stares at her for a moment, before nodding.

“You can order things for pick up at a nearby store when we land. Just get a few things from Target or something and I can go pick them up.” May tells her.

"Simmons and Fitz are both working to try and get you back to normal, so I'm sure it won't be too long." May reassures, finishing her tea. She picks up Skye’s empty mug and moves to the kitchen, cleaning them. Just before she leaves Skye calls out to her.

“May?” Skye calls, and May turns to face her.

“Thank you. Really. I just- Thanks.” Skye says, before standing and rushing from the room, back to her bunk. May watches her go worriedly, before going to the cockpit. Half an hour later, when she gets a text receipt for an order of clothes, she smiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys,  
Quite a few people have asked me to make this longer, so I've decided to add to it. This was originally planned as a one-shot, so the chapters may be slow to come, but they are coming! Thank you so much for everyone's support, especially 4NesZorEl40102, anythingcanhappenchild, Allison, and especially to LouiseLH! Hope you all have a lovely week and enjoy this next (short) chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

Everyone was having dinner together, Skye was sure for her benefit, as they had never done anything like this. May had collected the clothes for her, so she was wearing loose sweatpants and a large sweater. Everyone turned to face her as she walked in, and her heart rate sped up. She hated this, she knew she shouldn’t be nervous. They were her team, in some way her family, but her body hadn’t seemed to realise that. She slowed down slightly, before taking a deep breath and smiling, sitting down next to Jemma, on the corner, closest to the door. As she sat she looked around at the others, or more specifically, up.

“This is so not fair. I’m shorter than May now!” She exclaims, causing everyone to laugh and May to send her a playful glare. Even though she knows May was joking, Skye automatically shrinks away from the look, going to grab some food before groaning, thumping her head down on her folded arms.

“Skye?” Jemma asks, glancing at her worriedly.

“I hate this.” She mumbles, lifting her head to look at Jemma.

“Can you be my hands?” She asks, lifting her casted ones slightly.

“Oh. Sure, what would you like?” The rest of the team watch as Jemma picks up the tongs and puts the food that Skye wants onto her plate.

“Thanks.” Skye says, awkwardly lifting her fork and starting to eat. The chatter resumes as everyone eats. May watches Skye as she picks at her food, tense as she glances around herself. Every time the friendly banter caused raised voices, Skye flinches, taking a deep breath as she forces herself to relax. Once everyone has finished and starts standing up, Skye climbs down to the floor, grabbing her three quarter full plate and puting the left over food in the bin.

“Did you not like it Skye?” Coulson asks teasingly.

“No, no it was nice. I just forgot that my stomach is smaller. I think I ate too much as it is.” Skye smiles at him, turning to help clean up, but instead running into Fitz as he carries in his plate. Skye jumps at the sound of the plate crashing against the floor, smashing as it hits. The room seems to pause, turning to watch what was happening. Skye immediately drops to the floor, starting to pick up the shards of china before the others can react.

“Sorry. I’m sorry.” She mumbles, flinching as Jemma crouches down beside her.

“Hey, Skye. It’s okay, it’s not your fault. Why don’t you get the dustpan so you aren’t using your fingers? Oh, thank you, Fitz.” Jemma takes the dustpan and brush from Fitz, handing it Skye, who quickly brushes up the shards into.

“There are still dishes on the table.” Jemma says pointedly to Coulson and Fitz, May having already moved to grab stuff from the table.

“Right” Fitz and Coulson move to help May. Jemma helped Skye to finish cleaning up the mess.

“Skye. It’s okay.” Jemma says softly, worried for her friend. Skye was shaking, not just her hands, but her whole body was trembling.

“M’sorry” Skye mumbles again, standing and dumping the contents of the dustpan into the bin, before putting the dustpan away.

“To be honest, we probably shouldn’t have china plates on a plane, not with May’s flying anyway.” Coulson says, earning a glare from May.

“Hey, this flying has saved your life.” She smacks Coulson’s arm as she passes, cursing herself in her head as Skye flinches.

“I understand what you mean though,” she continues, placing the last of the dishes into the sink.

“Fitz, you’re on washing duty.” May says, glancing at the man who was trying to leave.

“Ugh May, really?” He groaned, making his way to the sink despite his groaning.

“Yep. I can help.” Jemma said, and Fitz nodded as he nodded, running the water. Coulson nodded and, after smiling at Skye, left for his office. May went to leave, motioning for Skye to follow her. Hesitantly, Skye followed May to the cockpit, where she curled up in the copilot seat. May just sat down in the pilot seat, and they stayed like that, silent, for a few minutes, until May decided to break the silence.

“Do you want to talk about it?” May turned to face Skye, who seemed impossibly small. She had curled up into herself, as if trying to hide.

“Uhh, the last time I broke a plate, the… Not all the homes I stayed in were bad, just, most of them. When I was twelve it was the worst. And if I did something wrong, whether it was something small like speaking without permission, or something big like breaking a plate, the punishments were the same.” Skye took a shaky breath, looking down at the floor from the seat.

“This, uhh, this-” she motions towards her body with a casted hand, “-was the punishment for breaking a plate.” She says, wiping her eyes before looking up at May. As soon as she saw the anger on May’s face as she stared out the windshield her breath caught, but she forced herself to breath, trying to get her heart rate under control.

“She’s not angry at me,” Skye whispers to herself, but May hears her anyway, taking a deep breath to calm down.

“I’m not mad at you Skye, I’m mad at the people who did this to you.” May says softly, and Skye visibly relaxes, nodding. After a couple moments silence she speaks again.

“I got them caught. Eventually. They had friends in the police department, and never got charged for child abuse.” She admits.

“What happened then?” May asked tightly.

“I may have framed them for tax fraud. And then sent the police a video I had gotten from the security footage from his office. They had to charge them for child abuse then.” Skye sighed, and looked over to May, who looked angry but impressed.

“And how old were you when you framed them?”

“Thirteen. It took me a couple months to alter their bank data.” Skye smirks proudly.

“I thought you said you learnt to hack at fifteen?”

“Well, that was when someone taught me enough so I was at the level to delete myself. Before then I kinda taught myself.” Skye admits, and May nods, turning back to look out the window.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye has another nightmare, and finds out they will be having some visitors.

The scream rang in her ears as she bolted upright, and after a moment she realised she had screamed out loud. She pushes herself back against the wall of the bunk, ignoring the pain as she brings her knees up to her chest. She sits there in silence for a moment, trying to catch her breath and stop the tears, when there is a cautious knock at her door.

“Skye? It’s May. Can I open the door?” May asks through the door. Hastily wiping her tears and relaxing her posture, Skye nods.

“Uh, yeah.” The door slides open and she’s faced with May, whose usually stoic expression was one laced with worry.

“I’m fine. It was just a dream.” Skye mumbles, looking up at her.

“Really?” May raises an eyebrow.

“Well, more of a memory. Its fine.” Skye moves herself to sit properly, hiding her wince.

“What do you mean?” May asks, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Uhmm, I’ve been having dreams of when this happened, nightmares. I had been expecting it to be honest, the same thing happened after the incident, I had nightmares where I woke screaming for weeks.” Skye reveals, and May nods sympathetically.

“Do you want to talk about it?” May asks, and Skye glances at her incredulously for a second, before sighing.

“Not really, thanks though. I’d rather just forget about it.” May nods at this, understanding the feeling.

“Okay, well I just got off a phone call with two very angry Avengers. They found out Coulson was alive, and are coming to see him tomorrow.” May tells her, and Skye’s eyes light up.

“Really? Who is it?” She asks eagerly, and May can’t help but laugh at how giddy she looks.

“Oh. My. God. Did Melinda May just laugh?” Skye asks her, before laughing herself at May’s scowl.

“Not a word to anyone. The Avengers who are coming are Natasha and Clint, the Black Widow and Hawkeye.” May warns, before answering her question. Skye looks delighted for a second, before her smile falls, eyes widening.

“They are gonna see me like this.” She realises, looking down at herself before back up at May. May sighs, moving closer to Skye and gently placing a hand on her ankle.

“Look, Clint and Nat were S.H.I.E.L.D. agents before they were Avengers. They understand better than anyone that this work can be strange, that we can come across strange things and even stranger things happen. They won’t judge you because of that, or your past. You don’t have to tell them anything,” May comforts her, and Skye nods, before laughing humorlessly.

“Sorry, I know this isn’t funny, it’s just. Less than a year ago I was a hacker, working for the Rising Tide and living out of a van. Now, I’m working for the organisation I thought I hated, have fought aliens, almost died, and am stuck in my twelve year old body for who knows how long. But you know what the strangest thing of all of this is? You.” Skye says, and May raises an eyebrow, confused.

“This, you in here, comforting me after a nightmare. How strange is that?” Skye asks, smirking, and May just smiles, shaking her head.

“Yeah, I guess it is, isn’t it.” They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments, before Skye looked back up at May

“Tea?”

“Sure kid.”

“Don’t call me kid!” May raised an eyebrow, pointedly glancing at Skye’s crossed arms and the pout on her lips. Skye just sighed, throwing herself back onto the couch, and groaning.

“Oh, come on. You know what, fine. I’ll find a way to get back at you.” Skye warned, and May just smirked.

“Of course you will." May handed her the cup of tea, and Skye sighed, sipping it happily. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I know it's short, but it's something, right? I should update again soo, I just have a lot going on. Guess who is going back to school next week?  
Also, three of my assignments were corrupted, so I have to redo them all.....  
Anyway, have a nice Day/Night/Whenever it is for you!


End file.
